Almaty, 14 October. Gold producer Solidcore Resources, known as Polymetal International until 2024, announced the results of its share buyback: it will acquire about 102.9 million shares, or roughly 23.2% of issued capital, at $11.66 a share for $1.2 billion, and the stake of Oman's Maaden International Investment will rise to 41.3% (Solidcore (EQS), Reuters (The Moscow Times)).
Shareholders tendered 103,032,456 shares against a maximum of 102,915,952, so the tenders were accepted pro rata with a factor of 0.999, the company said (Solidcore (EQS), Reuters (The Moscow Times)). After settlement the company will hold 226,324,758 shares in treasury, and the number of shares with voting rights will be 340,230,229 (Solidcore (EQS)).
The repurchased shares will be held as treasury shares and cancellation is not currently planned. Such shares carry no voting rights, dividends or other payments; keeping them in treasury, the company said, preserves flexibility: they may serve as consideration in acquisitions or support the liquidity of its shares (Solidcore (EQS), The Tenge).
Maaden International Investment did not take part in the buyback: it and Solidcore chief executive Vitaly Nesis irrevocably undertook in September not to tender their shares (Solidcore (EQS)). Maaden's stake therefore rose only because the number of shares outstanding fell, from 31.7% to 41.3% (Reuters (The Moscow Times)); a calculation based on the published figures suggests its share count was unchanged, at about 140.5 million.
The company announced the offer on 9 September: the $11.66 price is a 10% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price to 7 September, tenders were accepted from 9 September to 12 October, and shareholders approved the transaction at a meeting on 30 September (Solidcore (EQS), Reuters (TradingView), Mining Journal).
As Reuters reported, the company explained the deal by higher gold prices and progress on a new processing plant project in Kazakhstan, and gave shareholders who wished to leave a chance to exit illiquid shares (Reuters (The Moscow Times)). Chief executive Nesis told Mining Journal that the buyback completes the company's move into the Kazakh jurisdiction after the sale of its Russian assets and leaves “patient capital” on the register (Mining Journal).
Background: Polymetal International, founded in 1998 by Alexander Nesis's ICT Group, sold its Russian assets and renamed itself Solidcore Resources in 2024; from 15 October 2024 its shares were removed from the Moscow Exchange list (Reuters, Mining Journal, Solidcore (EQS)). The company is registered in the Astana International Financial Centre, trades on the Astana International Exchange and, by its own account, operates two gold mines in Kazakhstan while developing a major growth project (Solidcore (EQS)). Maaden International Investment, a consortium of Omani investors led by the state-owned Mercury Investments International, bought 23.9% (113,201,189 shares) from ICT Holding in January 2024 (AGBI, Reuters); by October 2024 its stake was 29.7% (Solidcore (EQS)), and before the buyback 31.7% (DKNews).
List of sources used
- Solidcore (EQS)
- Solidcore (EQS)
- Solidcore (EQS)
- AGBI
- Reuters (The Moscow Times)
- Reuters (TradingView)
- Reuters
- Mining Journal
- DKNews
- The Tenge
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
